Stay Informed

Meet the Team

Walk San Francisco is San Francisco’s pedestrian advocacy group. Walk SF and its members are making San Francisco a more livable, walkable city and reclaiming our streets as shared public space for everyone to enjoy.

Staff

Staff

Cathy DeLuca, Interim Executive Director

Cathy leads Walk San Francisco’s policy and programmatic work, strategic communications, administration, and operations. In her prior position as Walk SF’s Policy & Program Director, Cathy led the organization’s Vision Zero advocacy, including managing the Vision Zero Coalition, and she also oversaw Walk SF’s walkability and Safe Routes to School work. Cathy came to Walk SF in 2015 with a background in Safe Routes to School, active transportation, and urban planning. For two years, she served as the Coordinator of San Ramon Valley Street Smarts, a program delivering traffic safety education and walking/biking encouragement solutions to 33 schools. Previously, she provided bicycle and pedestrian planning services to the Alameda County Transportation Commission, the City of San Jose, and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, organizing Santa Cruz’s first Open Streets event. Ms. DeLuca holds a Masters in Urban Planning from San Jose State University. Contact via email.

Natalie Burdick, Outreach Director

Natalie directs Walk SF’s membership, volunteer, community events, communication and outreach programs. She partners with community members, nonprofit groups, and agency and elected staff, to build awareness and support for pedestrian safety, including advancing Walk SF’s Vision Zero effort, a campaign to end all traffic-related deaths in ten years, and currently serves on the Market Street Community Advisory Council. Natalie joined Walk SF in 2011 after five years in marketing and development at Santa Monica’s Heal the Bay, where she grew the environmental nonprofit’s social media, third party events, and managed direct marketing programs for the 10,000 member organization. Prior to her water-quality advocacy experience, she spent fifteen years in executive marketing, product marketing, and project management roles in customer relationship management (CRM) and open source start-ups in the software industry. Ms. Burdick has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California Los Angeles. Contact via email.

Josie Ahrens, Neighborhood Organizer

Josie organizes community members to advocate for projects that foster walkability and reclaim streets as shared public space, including leading the Green Connections campaign to implement a citywide networks of safe, traffic calmed, and ecologically sustainable streets that connect people to parks, open space and the waterfront. Josie also works to ensure that developers are integrating pedestrian safety and walkability, and supports other transformative projects, such as plazas, living alleys, and intersection murals. Prior to joining Walk SF in 2016, Josie was a City Hall Fellow at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) where she helped coordinate the development of the Agency’s five year $3.4 billion capital budget. In addition, she has previously worked as a community organizer advocating for workers’ rights in Los Angeles and affordable housing in Minneapolis. Having grown up in a union household in Los Angeles, Josie has a deep personal and professional commitment to social justice and equity. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Urban Studies from Macalester College. Contact via email.

Ben Barrett, Operations Manager

Ben is responsible for developing, organizing, and coordinating office operations and procedures. Ben joined Walk SF in 2015 as an outreach intern, then became a staff member as an operations assistant in 2016. In addition to his position at the organization, he is a Spanish translator and research assistant at an online archive and documentation center. Previously, Ben was a healthcare communications coordinator in New York City. Prior to that, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, where he worked with community-based organizations and rural entrepreneurs to encourage the adoption of sustainable and profitable practices to help curb deforestation. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Cornell University. Contact via email.

Brian Haagsman, Outreach Coordinator

Brian supports outreach efforts for Walk SF’s annual events, volunteer, and membership programs. Brian joined Walk SF in 2016, bringing a diverse background in fundraising, communications, and campaign management. Prior to Walk SF, he spent five years in fundraising at Stanford University. At Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, his responsibilities included executing reunion fundraising campaigns, organizing alumni volunteer engagement and development, and managing donor stewardship and communication. Previously, Brian held roles in marketing, communications, development, and social media at organizations including Edible Front Range Magazine and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Contact via email.

Natasha Opfell, Community Organizer

Natasha works as a Community Organizer focused on grassroots, neighborhood engagement and empowerment to support strong transportation projects within the Excelsior/Outer Mission/Ingleside communities. In collaboration with the Vision Zero Coalition and partner organizations, she works to build the capacity of community members who have traditionally been left out of planning processes, and who often rely on walking, transit and biking to get around. Natasha first joined Walk SF in 2016 as a Membership and Outreach Intern. Previously she held various internships with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and is currently completing her Bachelors of the Arts in Urban Studies and Planning with a focus in Ethnic Studies and Social Justice at San Francisco State University. Natasha moved to San Francisco from Palm Springs y ella habla español. Contact via email.

Ali Skapyak, Vision Zero Coordinator

Ali supports Walk SF’s Vision Zero campaign through community and partner organizing, capacity building, and communication. Primary responsibilities include coordinating Vision Zero Coalition actions and events, supporting Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) policy efforts, and working with Tenderloin community groups on the Safer Taylor Street project. Ali first joined Walk SF as a Policy & Program intern in 2016. She began her professional life working on marketing and fundraising efforts in New York City for various projects including New York’s High Line park. Ali holds a Masters in Urban Planning from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Pennsylvania State University. She grew up in New Jersey. Contact via email.

Board

Board

Marselle Alexander-Ozinskas, President

Program Officer, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation

Joseph Steinberger, Treasurer

Principal Environmental Planner, Bay Area Air Quality Management District